Digital camera including an on-line sales mode

ABSTRACT

A digital camera comprises an image sensor for capturing a plurality of images; a processor for processing the plurality of images and producing a corresponding plurality of digital image files; a memory for storing the plurality of digital image files; and a mode control for selecting between a normal mode and an on-line sales mode.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Reference is made to commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/412,521, filed concurrently herewith by Kenneth A. Parulski et al.,entitled “Classifying Digital Images as Favorite Images Using a DigitalCamera”; reference is made to commonly-assigned U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/411,755, filed concurrently herewith by Steven M. Bryant etal., entitled “Grouping Digital Images Using a Digital Camera”;reference is made to commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/412,517, filed concurrently herewith by Steven M. Bryant, et al.,entitled “Method for Producing Electronic Job Pages”; reference is madeto commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/411,753, filedconcurrently herewith by Kenneth A. Parulski, et al., entitled “UsingFavorite Digital Images to Organize and Identify Electronic Albums; thedisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to digital cameras that capture digitalimages and, more particularly, to a digital camera that includes anon-line sales mode.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Digital cameras are used by a growing number of consumer andprofessional photographers. These cameras use one or more CCD or CMOSimage sensors to capture images, and digitally process these capturedimages to produce digital image files, which are stored in a digitalmemory in the camera. The digital image files can then be viewed,stored, retrieved, and printed using a home computer, and can beuploaded to a web site for viewing.

The digital camera can include a user control for selecting one or morecategories for images to be captured, as described in commonly-assignedU.S. Pat. No. 5,633,678 “Electronic Still Camera For Capturing AndCategorizing Images” to Parulski et. al., the disclosure of which isherein incorporated by reference. Alternatively, the stored digitalimages can be organized later when they are transferred to the computerusing appropriate software. For example, the software can enable imagesto be organized into categories according to the people, places,subjects or events depicted, as described in a paper entitled “FotoFile:A Consumer Multimedia Organization and Retrieval System” by Kuchinsky etal. The Kuchinsky et al. paper describes metadata attributes that areused to describe certain images, including a “favorite” attribute thatis used to indicate the “best” images in a user's collection. However,in the Kuchinsky et al. paper, “favorites” can only be selected when theimages are reviewed on the PC, not when they are captured using acamera.

Various types of metadata related to images have been standardized. Forexample, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) groupISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11, “Coding of Moving Pictures and Audio”, hasdeveloped an“MPEG-7 Requirements Document” V.8, No. N2727, March 1999,which defines various types of metadata that can be stored with movingimages. Also, the Digital Imaging Group (DIG) has developed the DIG35metadata standard. However, neither of these specifications definesmetadata which indicates that an image is a favorite image for aparticular user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital camerahaving an on-line sale mode.

This object is achieved by a digital camera comprising an image sensorfor capturing a plurality of images; a processor for processing theplurality of images and producing a corresponding plurality of digitalimage files; a memory for storing the plurality of digital image files;and a mode control for selecting between a normal mode and an on-linesales mode.

ADVANTAGES

It is an advantage of the present invention to enable a user to captureimages of items to be offered for on-line sales.

It is an additional advantage of the present invention to provide adigital camera having both a normal mode and an on-line sales mode.

It is a further advantage of the present invention to provide an on-linesales mode which produces a smaller image file than the normal mode.

It is a further advantage of the present invention to provide a simplemethod for grouping digital images into distinct sets of images as theyare captured using a digital camera, each group corresponding to adifferent item offered for sale.

It is a further advantage of the present invention to utilize thegrouping information created in the digital camera to simplify theprocess of creating electronic job pages corresponding to the itemsoffered for sale.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a digital photography system;

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of a digital camera used in the digitalphotography system of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A and 3B, taken together, depict a flow diagram showing a firstembodiment of a method for grouping images, identifying favorite images,and organizing the images in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 depicts a rear view of the digital camera of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 depicts a directory structure for images and control files storedby the digital camera of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 depicts a first utilization file for identifying groups of imagesand favorite images;

FIGS. 7A-7B depict digital camera graphical user interface screens forindicating groups of images and favorite images;

FIG. 8 depicts information included in the local database;

FIGS. 9A-9C depict computer user interface screens for displayingtransferred images;

FIG. 10 depicts album pages;

FIGS. 11A and 11B, taken together, depict a flow diagram showing asecond embodiment of a method for grouping images, identifying favoriteimages, and organizing the images in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 12 depicts a second utilization file for identifying groups ofimages corresponding to electronic job pages and favorite images;

FIG. 13A depicts an example of an initial electronic job page populatedwith images captured by a digital camera;

FIG. 13B depicts an example of a completed electronic job page;

FIGS. 14A and 14B, taken together, depict a flow diagram showing a thirdembodiment of a method for grouping images, identifying favorite images,and organizing the images in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 15 depicts a computer user interface screen for displaying uploadedimage albums; and

FIG. 16 depicts a computer user interface screen for displaying an imagewith an album.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention defines methods for grouping and classifyingdigital still images and digital motion images captured using a handhelddigital camera. The grouping can be done manually by the camera user, bypressing a “new group” button on the digital camera before capturing agroup of digital images. The classification can be done manually by thecamera user, for example, by identifying a “favorite” image within eachgroup of captured images, using a control button on the digital cameraas the user reviews the group of captured digital images on the camera'simage display. A user identifier can also be stored along with theclassification data, in order to identify the particular camera user forwhom the classification was made. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, the grouping and classification data is stored in a databaseon a host computer, and can later be used in retrieving digital imagesand in producing hardcopy output, such as album pages. In a secondembodiment, the grouping and classification data is used to create“electronic job pages”, where each group of images corresponds to one“job”, such as an item offered for sale electronically. By grouping theimages on the digital camera as they are captured, the process of latercreating the “electronic job pages” on a computer is greatly simplified,since the images are already organized into the appropriate job groups.In a third embodiment, the digital camera includes a wireless modemwhich transmits some of the captured images to a service provider, andthe grouping and classification information is used to simplify theprocess of selecting and organizing the images stored by a local hostcomputer and by the service provider.

The classification provides “affective information,” which is hereindefined as information that relates to the feelings or emotions of aperson toward images. This affective information usually describes orrepresents a person's subjective reaction to a given image. One veryimportant type of affective information is the level of importance auser associates with an image, such as whether the image is a“favorite”. For example, a user may take dozens of still photographs orvideo segments during an event, such as a wedding or Christmascelebration. Out of these many images, there are normally only a fewthat the user feels are particularly special, or “favorite” images.

Affective information can be stored using a “tag” or “flag”, associatedwith an image, which indicates whether or not the image has beenidentified as a “favorite” or “important” image for the user. Theabsence of such a tag indicates that the image has not been identifiedas a favorite or important image for the user. Such tag represents abinary categorization, classifying images into “favorite” and “normal”categories. Alternatively, favorite images can be categorized into arange of levels. For example, images can be classified between a rangeof −10 to +10, where 0 is used for an unclassified image, +10 is usedfor the “most favorite” image or images, and −10 is used for the “leastfavorite” image or images.

Different users can have different emotional reactions to the sameimage. Therefore, to be most useful, affective information relating toimages should be associated with a particular user, if the images are tobe shared with various users. In some embodiments, this is accomplishedby associating a user identifier with the affective information. Theuser identifier can be any type of information that helps enable aparticular user to be identified. For example, the user identifier canbe a personal identification code such as a globally unique ID (GUID), auser number, a social security number, a camera serial number, or thelike. The user identifier can also be a complete legal name, a nickname,a computer user name, or the like. The user identifier can be storedalong with the affective information at the time the image is classifiedusing the digital camera, or can alternatively be added when the imagesare transferred from the digital camera to a host computer. In thelatter case, an identification number such as a serial number associatedwith the camera can be stored within the image files, and a useridentifier can later be associated with this serial number.

When the affective information is stored in association with a useridentifier, it is known as “personal affective information”. Theaffective information and user identifier are types of image “metadata”,which is a term used for any information relating to an image. Examplesof other types of image metadata include image capture time, capturedevice, capture location, date of capture, and image capture parameters(such as lens f-number, focus distance).

The affective information, such as whether an image is classified as a“favorite”, can be associated with a digital image by storing theclassification data within the image file, for example, using a TIFF IFDwithin an Exif image file. Alternatively, the classification data can bestored in a separate file, such as a “Favorites” file, that provides alist of all of the stored images that are classified as favorites.

Affective information can be manually entered by a user, for example,using pushbuttons, a touch screen, or voice recognition, or can becollected automatically, as described in commonly assigned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/304,037, entitled “Imaging Method and System forHealth Monitoring and Personal Security” by Elena Fedorovskaya et al.the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a digital photography systemin accordance with the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the systemincludes a digital camera 300 that captures and classifies still andmotion video images, as will be described later with reference to FIG.2. The digital camera 300 is one example of an imaging device that canbe used in a digital photography system made in accordance with thepresent invention. Other examples of imaging devices include still-onlyor motion video-only cameras, and combination cell phone/digital camerasthat can capture and transmit digital still and video images.

The digital photography system of FIG. 1 also includes a home computersystem 10. The home computer 10 includes a CPU motherboard 12, havingfor example, an Intel Pentium IV processor as well as RAM memory (notshown). The CPU motherboard 12 executes software stored on a hard drive20, for example, the well-known Windows XP operating system software andthe Internet Explorer web browser software, both provided by MicrosoftCorp. of Redmond, Wash. The hard drive 20 is also used to storeapplication software that can be provided along with the digital camera300 using any suitable software distribution media or method, such as aCD-ROM, floppy disc, or Internet download, as is well-known to thoseskilled in the art. As will be described later with reference to FIG. 3,the hard drive 20 is also used to store images downloaded from thedigital camera 300 and to store a local database of informationassociated with these downloaded images. The hard drive 20 is one typeof memory associated with the home computer 10. Other types of memorycould alternatively be used with the home computer 10 to storedownloaded images, such as solid-state Flash EPROM memory and opticalread/write discs, such as recordable and erasable DVD discs.

The CPU motherboard 12 is coupled to a display monitor 14 and a keyboard16. A mouse 18 permits the user to readily communicate with the CPUmotherboard 12. The home computer 10 also includes a dial-up modem 22for communicating with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 30 in order toconnect to a channel 36, such as the Internet, in order to email imagesto others, or to provide images to a service provider for storage and/orprinting. The CPU motherboard 12 can communicate with the digital camera300 when the digital camera 300 is placed in a dock 350. Thecommunication uses a suitable wired or wireless interface, such as thewell-known Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface. The dock 350 can beused to transfer images and control files to the home computer 10, totransfer images and information, such as camera settings and emailaddresses, from the home computer 10 to the digital camera 300, and torecharge the batteries in the digital camera 300.

The CPU motherboard 12 also communicates with a card reader 24, whichcan read and write data on a removable flash memory card 330 (shown inFIG. 2) used in the digital camera 300, which is an alternative way oftransferring images and control files from the digital camera 300 to thehome computer 10. The home computer 10 also includes a printer 26, whichcommunicates with the CPU motherboard 12 over a suitable interface, suchas the USB interface.

In alternative embodiments, other devices, such as a television set-topbox or Internet appliance, could be used in place of the home computer10. Also, the connection between the digital camera 300 and the homecomputer 10 could be done directly, without using dock 350.

The ISP 30, for example, Earthlink Network, Inc. of Pasadena, Calif.,includes banks of modems 32, one of which is connected to communicatewith the modem 22 of the home computer 10. The modem 32 in turncommunicates with computers/routers 34 in order to provide a connectionto the channel 36, which is preferably the Internet, using equipment andtechniques well-known to those skilled in the art. The ISP 30 providese-mail services using the channel 36.

An electronic auction provider 80 communicates over the channel 36 inorder to enable a member, using a home computer 10, to uploadinformation and images which describe and depict a product to be offeredat an electronic auction, and for other members to bid on the product.An example of an electronic auction provider 80 is the well-known eBay“online marketplace”, at www.ebay.com.

A photo service provider 40 communicates with a fulfillment system 50,which is comprised of one or more computers and associated peripheralsfor producing photo products, such as hardcopy prints, album pages,photo mugs, PictureCD discs, and the like. The fulfillment system 50includes a computer that serves as a production controller 52, andcontrols one or more color printers 54, which can produce photo products66 such as album pages or standard hardcopy prints. The hardcopy printscan be of various sizes, and can be sold in frames. The productioncontroller 52 is also connected to a disc writer 76, which can produceCDs or DVDs, for example PictureCDs, having digital still and videoimages and application software for using the digital images. Theproduction controller 52 can optionally be connected to devices (notshown) for producing other types of photo products 66, for example,t-shirts or coffee mugs, incorporating one or more images uploaded bythe user. The production controller 52 also controls a shipping system70, which controls a shipping label printer 72 to produce a shippinglabel 74. The shipping label 74 is attached to a shipping container(e.g., a cardboard box containing packing material) that contains andprotects the photo product 66 during shipment (e.g., via air expressmail or ground carrier) to the user or the user's designee.

A service provider database 44 at the photo service provider 40 providesinformation describing numerous photo products that can be provided bythe fulfillment system 50, as described in commonly-assigned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/576,288, filed May 23, 2000, entitled “MethodFor Providing Customized Photo Products Over A Network” by Parulski etal., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Thisincludes information describing photo product options, for example,album features such as providing various background colors or textures,page numbers, page captions, and image captions. The album pages can bebound in a cover, or can include holes to permit the pages to beinserted into a standard binder, such as a three-ring binder. Thesealbum feature options can be demonstrated via software programs, forexample, JAVA applets, MPEG or QuickTime movies, or Shockwave files,which depict the functionality of features that the customer can choose.

The service provider database 44 includes information describing eachcustomer account, including user billing information. The billinginformation can include a payment identifier for the user, such as acharge card number, expiration date, and user billing address. Theservice provider database 44 can optionally provide long-term storage ofthe uploaded images for each user. In this case, stored images areaccessible (e.g., viewable) via the Internet by authorized users, asdescribed, for example, in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,760,917,entitled “Image Distribution Method and System” to Sheridan, thedisclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. The serviceprovider database 44 can be provided by the same computer as a networkserver 42, or can utilize a separate computer, or can be distributedover several computers at the same physical site, or at different sites.

On a regular basis (e.g., monthly), or alternatively, whenever a photoproduct 66 is purchased by the user, the service provider database 44communicates with a billing system 46 to verify that the paymentidentifier (e.g., credit card or debit card number) provided by thecustomer is valid, and to debit the account for the purchase or themonthly service fee for providing information to the user and storinguser images. As shown in block 48, the bill is issued. The customer'saccount that is debited can, of course, be located at a remote financialinstitution.

The digital camera 300 is shown in block diagram form in FIG. 2. Theback of the digital camera 300, which provides a camera user interface,is shown in FIG. 4. Preferably, the digital camera 300 is a portablebattery operated device, small enough to be easily handheld by a userwhen capturing and reviewing images. The digital camera 300 can be, forexample, a Kodak EasyShare DX4330 Zoom Digital Camera. The digitalcamera 300 produces digital images that are stored on the removablememory card 330. The digital camera 300 includes a zoom lens 312 havingzoom and focus motor drives 310 and an adjustable aperture and shutter(not shown). Referring to FIG. 4, the user composes the image using anoptical viewfinder 305 and a zoom lens control 311, and then depressesshutter button 309 to begin capture of a still image. Referring again toFIG. 2, zoom lens 312 focuses light from a scene (not shown) on an imagesensor 314, for example, a single-chip color CCD image sensor, using thewell-known Bayer color filter pattern. The image sensor 314 iscontrolled by clock drivers 306. The image sensor 314 can have, forexample, 3.3 megapixels (2242×1473 pixels), of which the center 3.1megapixels (2160×1400 pixels) are stored in the final image file afterimage processing. The zoom and focus motors 310 and the clock drivers306 are controlled by control signals supplied by a control processorand timing generator circuit 304. The control processor and timinggenerator 304 receives inputs from an image processor 320, whichprovides calculations for focus and exposure determination, and controlsa flash 302. The analog output signal from the image sensor 314 isamplified and converted to digital data by the analog signal processing(ASP) and analog-to-digital (A/D) converter circuit 316. The digitaldata is stored in a DRAM buffer memory 318 and subsequently processed byan image processor 320 controlled by the firmware stored in firmwarememory 328, which can be flash EPROM memory.

The processed digital image file is provided to a memory card interface324, which stores the digital image file on the removable memory card330. Removable memory cards 330 are one type of removable digital imagestorage medium, and are available in several different physical formats.For example, the removable memory card 330 can include memory cardsadapted to the well-known PC card, Compact Flash, SmartMedia,MemoryStick, MMC or SD memory card formats. Other types of removabledigital image storage media, such as magnetic hard drives, magnetictape, or optical disks, can alternatively be used to store the digitalimages.

The processor 320 performs color interpolation followed by color andtone correction, in order to produce rendered sRGB image data. Theprocessor 320 can also provide various image sizes selected by the user,for example, 3.1 megapixel (MP) “best quality” images, 2.2 MP “betterquality” images, 0.8 MP “e-mail quality” images, and 0.4 MP “webquality” images. The rendered sRGB image data is then JPEG compressedand stored as a JPEG image file on the removable memory card 330. TheJPEG file uses the so-called “Exif” image format defined in “DigitalStill Camera Image File Format (Exif)” version 2.1, July 1998 by theJapan Electronics Industries Development Association (JEIDA), Tokyo,Japan. This format includes an Exif application segment that storesparticular image metadata, for example, the date and time the picturewas captured, the lens f/number and other camera settings, and imagecaptions or comments that can be selected or entered by the camera user.In some embodiments of the present invention, this metadata can includemetadata identifying favorite images and groups of images. In otherembodiments, the favorites and grouping metadata is provided in aseparate control file. The control processor and timing generator 304also provide a real-time clock value to the image processor 320, whichcan stored this value as date/time metadata in each image file.

The processor 320 also creates a low-resolution “thumbnail” size image,which can be created as described in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No.5,164,831, entitled “Electronic Still Camera Providing Multi-FormatStorage Of Full And Reduced Resolution Images” to Kuchta, et al., thedisclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. In a preferredembodiment, this thumbnail image has 160×120 pixels, to conform to theDCF rules described later, and is stored in RAM memory 326 and suppliedto a color LCD image display 332. After images are captured, they can bequickly reviewed on the color LCD image display 332 by using thethumbnail image data. The digital camera 300 can also include a videooutput driver 390 for displaying the captured images and the graphicaluser interface on a separate TV monitor 392.

The graphical user interface displayed on the color LCD image display332 is controlled by user controls 303. In a preferred embodiment shownin FIG. 4, user controls 303 (see FIG. 2) include a joystick controller360 that includes 4-way control (up, down, left, right) and apush-button center “OK” switch. User controls 303 further include a“group” push button 362, a “favorite” pushbutton 364, a “menu”pushbutton 366 and a “review” pushbutton 368 which are used whengrouping and categorizing images. User controls 303 further include thezoom lens control rocker switch 311, the shutter button 309, and themode dial 370, which sets various camera capture modes, such as automode, sports mode, night mode, landscape mode, close-up mode, and videocapture mode. In alternative embodiments, many different types of usercontrols can be used.

As will be described later with reference to FIG. 3A, when the userpresses the “review” button 368 (see FIG. 4), the last captured image isdisplayed on the color image display 332. The user can display otherimages by pressing the left and right arrows of joystick controller 360.The user can press the “favorite” button 364 to tag the displayed imageas a favorite image. The user can press the “group” button 362 toindicate the beginning of a new group of images.

As shown in FIG. 2, an interface 342 can be used to connect between thehost interface 322 in the digital camera 300 and the dock 350, whichconnects to the home computer 10. The interface 342 may conform to, forexample, the well-known USB interface specification. Alternatively, theinterface between the digital camera 300 and the home computer 10 can bea wireless interface, such as the well-known Bluetooth wirelessinterface or the well-known 802.11b wireless interface. The interface342 can be used to download images from removable memory card 330 to thehome computer 10, instead of using card reader 24 (FIG. 1). Theinterface 342 can also be used to transfer data from the home computer10 to the firmware memory 328 in the digital camera 300. In particular,it can be used to transfer a user name and e-mail addresses from thehome computer 10 to the firmware memory 328, as described incommonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/977,382, filedOct. 18, 2002, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated byreference.

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary directory structure recorded on theremovable memory card 330 by the digital camera 300. The Exif imagefiles, containing the JPEG compressed main image, thumbnail image, andthe image metadata, are stored on the removable memory card 330 using adirectory structure conforming to the so-called “DCF” rules defined in“Design Rule For Camera File System” version 1.0, December 1998 by theJapan Electronics Industries Development Association (JEIDA), Tokyo,Japan. Two directories are recorded under a root directory 400. Thefirst is a MISC directory 410 containing a control file 412 namedAUTPRINT.MRK, a control file 414 named AUTXFER.MRK, and a control file416 named FAVGROUP.MRK. Control files 412 and 414 are DPOF files whichspecify images to be printed and emailed, as described incommonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/081,255, filedFeb. 22, 2002, entitled “Image Application Software Providing A List OfUser Selectable Tasks” to Herbert, the disclosure of which is hereinincorporated by reference.

The second directory recorded under root directory 400 is DCIM directory420, which contains a subdirectory 430. The subdirectory 430 is named100K4330, to conform to the DCF rules, and contains eleven JPEGcompressed Exif image files, file 432 named 100_(—)1686.JPG, file 434named 100_(—)1687.JPG, file 436 named 100_(—)1688.JPG, file 438 named100_(—)1689.JPG, file 440 named 100_(—)1690.JPG, file 442 named100_(—)1691.JPG, file 444 named 100_(—)1692.JPG, file 446 named100_(—)1693.JPG, file 448 named 100_(—)1694.JPG, file 450 named100_(—)1695.JPG, and file 452 named 100_(—)1696.JPG. Files 432 through452 are Exif image files captured by the digital camera 300.

FIG. 6 is an example of the contents of FAVGROUP.MRK file 416. The fileincludes a header section (lines 1-4) having a header identifier (“HDR”in line 1), which identifies the make and model of the digital camerathat created the file (Kodak DX4330 zoom digital camera in line 2), theserial number of the camera (GEN SRN=00100245 in line 3) and the timethat the file was created (line 4). The file also includes six “JOB”sections, each of which designates either an image which is the firstsequential image of a “group” of images, or a “favorite” image.

Lines 5 through 8 define a group job. The group job is identified as thefirst group job (GRP PID=001 in line 6). The next two lines indicatethat the Exif format image (line 7), which is named 100_(—)1686.JPG(image file 432 in FIG. 5) within subdirectory 100K4330 within directoryDCIM (as indicated by line 8), is the first image of a first group ofimages.

Similarly, lines 9 through 12 define another group job. The group job isidentified as the second group job (GRP PID=002 in line 10). The nexttwo lines indicate that the Exif format image (line 11 ), which is named100_(—)1689.JPG (image file 438 in FIG. 5) within subdirectory 100K4330within directory DCIM (as indicated by line 12), is the first image of asecond group of images. Therefore, all of the images since the lastgroup job are included in the previous group. In other words, imagefiles 432 through 436 in FIG. 5 are included in the first group, andimage file 438 is the first image of the second group.

Likewise, lines 13 through 16 define another group job. The group job isidentified as the third group job (GRP PID=003 in line 14). The next twolines indicate that the Exif format image (line 15), which is named100_(—)1693.JPG (image file 446 in FIG. 5) within subdirectory 100K4330within directory DCIM (as indicated by line 16), is the first image ofthe third group of images.

Thus, the three group jobs in lines 5 through 16 indicate that imagefiles 432 through 436 in FIG. 5 form a first group of images, imagefiles 438 through 444 form a second group of images, and image files 446through 452, which is the last image, form a third group of images.

Lines 17 through 20 define a favorite image. The image is identified asthe first favorite image (FAV PID=001 in line 18). The next two linesindicate that the Exif format image (line 19), which is named100_(—)1687.JPG (image file 434 in FIG. 5) within subdirectory 100K4330within directory DCIM (as indicated by line 20), is the favorite image.

Lines 21 through 24 define another favorite image. The image isidentified as the second favorite image (FAV PID=002 in line 22). Thenext two lines indicate that the Exif format image (line 23), which isnamed 100_(—)1691.JPG (image file 442 in FIG. 5) within subdirectory100K4330 within directory DCIM (as indicated by line 24), is thefavorite image.

Lines 25 through 28 define another favorite image. The image isidentified as the third favorite image (FAV PID=001 in line 26). Thenext two lines indicate that the Exif format image (line 27), which isnamed 100_(—)1695.JPG (image file 450 in FIG. 5) within subdirectory100K4330 within directory DCIM (as indicated by line 28), is thefavorite image.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the FAVGROUP.MRKfile 416 in FIG. 5 could have used alternative ways of indicating whichimages belong to different groups. For example, all of the images in aparticular group could be listed, or the first and last images of agroup could be listed.

In alternative embodiments, the data indicating favorite images andgroups of images can be added within each image file, so that a separatecontrol file is not necessary. In other alternative embodiments, thedata identifying groups of images can be provided by storing each groupof images within a separate subdirectory according to the DCF rules. Insuch embodiments, only the first group of images is stored insubdirectory 430, named “100K4330” in FIG. 5, and the other groups ofimages are stored in other subdirectories (not shown) named “101K4330”for the second group, “102K4300” for the third group, and the like.

FIGS. 3A and 3B, taken together, depict a flow diagram showing a firstembodiment of a method in accordance with the present invention forgrouping images, identifying favorite images, and organizing the images,implemented using the system described earlier in relation to FIG. 1 andFIG. 2.

In block 100 of FIG. 3A, the user installs the software on the homecomputer 10. The installation creates a local database structure on thehard drive 20 of the home computer 10, as will be described later withreference to FIG. 8. This local database will later be populated withdata which groups and classifies the images which are captured by thedigital camera 300 and transferred to the home computer 10.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the software on the homecomputer 10 can be used to customize on or more components of thefirmware stored in the firmware memory 328 of the digital cameras 300,as described in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/549,356, filed Apr. 14, 2000, entitled “CUSTOMIZING A DIGITAL CAMERA”to Prabhu et. al., the disclosure of which is herein incorporated byreference.

In a preferred embodiment, when the software is initially installed onthe home computer 10, the user is prompted to answer a number ofquestions in order to produce a personalized database of metadata“labels”, as described in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/721,222, filed Nov. 22, 2000, entitled “Method For AddingPersonalized Metadata To A Collection Of Digital Images” to Parulski et.al., the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.

In a preferred embodiment, the software also enables the user to createan e-mail address book on the home computer 10 and to transfer thee-mail addresses to the digital camera 300, as described incommonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/081,255, filedFeb. 22, 2002, entitled “Image Application Software Providing A List OfUser Selectable Tasks” to Herbert, the disclosure of which is hereinincorporated by reference.

In block 102 of FIG. 3A, a group of digital images, which can be one ormore images, is captured using the digital camera 300 and stored asdigital image files on the removable memory card 330, as was describedearlier with reference to FIG. 2. The images are stored using thedirectory structure shown in FIG. 5. For example, when the userdepresses the shutter button 309 (see FIG.4), a first digital image iscaptured and stored as an image file, such as image file 432 in FIG. 5.This first image file is the first image in a new group of images.Therefore, the image processor 320 in the digital camera 300 creates aninitial FAVGROUP.MRK file (416 in FIG. 5) containing a single group jobthat indicates that this first image file 432, named 100_(—)1686.JPG, isthe first image of a new group of images. This can be done by writinglines 1 through 8 of the FAVGROUP.MRK control file shown in FIG. 6. Theuser continues to capture additional images in the first group,corresponding to image files 434 through 436 in FIG. 5.

In block 104, the user decides whether or not to capture another groupof images. This next group can be of a different subject (e.g., adifferent person) than the first group or a different event, or can betaken for a different purpose. If yes to block 104, in block 106 theuser presses the “group” button 362 on the digital camera 300 (see FIG.4) to indicate that next images to be captured should be organized intoa second group. Providing a single button, or a similar easy to operateuser control, enables the camera user to quickly and easily organizeimages into different groups while taking pictures with the digitalcamera 300. These groups of images can later be assigned labels whenthey are transferred to the home computer 10.

In block 108, the image processor 320 in the digital camera 300 updatesthe initial FAVGROUP.MRK control file (416 in FIG. 5) to identify asecond group of images. This is done after the user presses the shutterbutton 309 (see FIG. 4) to capture and store the next digital image(e.g., image file 438 in FIG. 5), by appending a second group jobindicating that this image is the first image of a second group of imagefiles. In this example, this is done by writing lines 9 through 12 ofthe FAVGROUP.MRK file shown in FIG. 6. In block 110, the user continuesto capture additional images in the second group, corresponding to imagefiles 440 through 444 in FIG. 6.

Returning to block 104, the user again decides whether to captureanother group of images. If yes to block 104, block 106 through 110 arerepeated, for example, to capture and store image files 446 through 452in FIG. 5 and to create the third group job indicated by lines 13through 16 of the FAVGROUP.MRK file shown in FIG. 6.

In an alternative embodiment, the digital camera 300 includes amicrophone, and the user records a single audio annotation for the groupof images as the user presses and holds the “group” button 362 (see FIG.4). This audio annotation is stored as a separate audio file, such as awave file, on the removable memory card 330. The audio annotation coulddescribe the subject of the group of photos, or other information commonto the group of photos. The FAVGROUP.MRK control file could include thename of this separate audio file created for each group.

If in block 104 the user decides not to capture additional groups ofimages (no to block 104), in block 112 the user can review capturedimages on the color image display 332 of the digital camera 300. Thereview mode is initiated when the user presses the review button 368(see FIG. 4). The last captured image file (e.g., file 452 in FIG. 5) isdisplayed. The user can navigate to review other image files (e.g.,files 432 through 450) using the joystick controller 360. The images areinitially displayed as shown in FIG. 7A, which shows the GUI screen 500Awhich is displayed on the color LCD display 332 of the digital camera300 (see FIG. 2). The GUI screen 500A shows the image from the imagefile along with a display area 502A that indicates the group (e.g.,Group 1) and a display window 504A that gives the image file number(e.g., number 1687).

In block 114 of FIG. 3A, the user identifies one or more images as“favorite” images. The user accomplishes this by pressing the “favorite”button 364 (see FIG. 4) while the favorite image is displayed. In block115, after the user presses the “favorite” button 364, the imageprocessor 320 in the digital camera 300 updates the GUI screen displayedon the color LCD display 332 to be as shown in FIG. 7B. The GUI screen500B in FIG. 7B includes a “favorite” indicator 506B, for example, theheart shaped icon shown in FIG. 7B. In block 116, the image processor320 in the digital camera 300 updates the FAVGROUP.MRK control fileshown in FIG. 6 to indicate that the image has been identified as afavorite image. For example, lines 17-20 are appended to the file toindicate that image file 434 in FIG. 5 named 100_(—)1687.JPG is afavorite image. The user can identify additional favorite images inblocks 112-116 of FIG. 3A, such as image files 442 and 450, which areidentified in lines 21 through 28 in FIG. 6.

In an alternative embodiment, the digital camera 300 includes a userinterface which enables the user to identify images as being an “ExtraFavorite” image, a “Favorite” image, a “Normal” image, or a “Dislike”image, and to change the classification of a previously classifiedimage. In this case, an appropriate icon is used to indicate the imageclassification. In another alternative embodiment, the digital camera300 includes a slide show mode which automatically cycles tosequentially display only images classified as “favorite” or “extrafavorite”.

In block 118, the user can optionally select image for printing ande-mailing, as described in commonly-assigned U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/081,255 filed Feb. 22, 2002, entitled “Image ApplicationSoftware Providing A List Of User Selectable Tasks” to Herbert, thedisclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, andcorresponding print and email control files are created in block 119.

In block 120, the user connects the digital camera 300 to the dock 350,which is connected to the home computer 10 via an interface such as USB,and presses a “transfer” button (not shown) to initiate the imagetransfer. This transfer takes place using the commands defined in theindustry standard PIMA 15740:2000 entitled “Photography—Electronic stillpicture imaging—Picture transfer protocol (PTP) for digital stillphotography devices”, which is available from the International ImagingIndustries Association (13A) in Harrison, N.Y. Alternatively, the usercan remove the removable memory card 330 from the digital camera 300 andplace the removable memory card 330 in the card reader 24.

In block 122, the home computer 10 reads the control files 412-416 andtransfers the image files 432-452 (see FIG. 5) to the hard drive 20 ofthe home computer 10. The image files are stored in a default directory,such as in a “my collection” directory, or in a directory selected bythe user when the software was installed in block 100. In block 124, anobject is created for each transferred image, and the favorite and groupproperties of each object are set to correspond to the information readfrom the control file in block 122. In block 126 shown in FIG. 3B, theobject created for each transferred image is committed to the localdatabase stored on the hard drive 20 of the home computer 10. It will beunderstood that while in a preferred embodiment, the local databasestores objects in an object oriented database management system(OODBMS). In alternative embodiments, the local database can use manydifferent types of more primitive data structures, including arrays,tables, lists, registries, and the like, to store the data identifyingfavorite images and groups of images.

FIG. 8 depicts information included in the local database stored on thehard drive 20. The database includes a general assets table 600 thatincludes an image data object 632-652 for each transferred image. Inparticular, there are 11 data objects which correspond to the 11 imagefiles 432-452, named 100_(—)1686 through 100_(—)1696 shown in FIG. 5.

Each image data object, for example “object 11 (100_(—)1696) 652, whichcorresponds to the image file 452 named 100_(—)1696 in FIG. 5, includesthe table of data fields 610. Each row 660-692 of the table 610 includesa particular type of metadata describing the image. The metadata in thedatabase is preferably stored using XML. Each row of the table 610includes a field 612 in the first column which names the metadata item(e.g., capdate for image capture date), a type 614 in the second columnwhich indicates the type of data (e.g., string for character string),and an “expose” value 616 in the third column which indicates whetherthis particular metadata is exposed to the user of the softwareapplication.

The “capdate” metadata in row 660 provides the date/time that the imagewas captured using the digital camera 300. The “image caption” metadatain row 662 provides user entered caption. This metadata is null untilthe caption is optionally entered by the user using the keyboard 16 (seeFIG. 1). The “clgdate” metadata in row 664 provides the date/time thatthe image was cataloged, in other words, the date/time that the objectwas committed to the database in block 126 of FIG. 3B. The “favlevel”metadata in row 666 indicates whether or not the image was selected as afavorite in block 114 of FIG. 3A. As described earlier, images areclassified using a scale ranging between −10 and +10. If the image wasnot selected as a favorite in block 114, it is given a value of 0, andif it was selected as a favorite, it is given a value of +7. The othervalues can be used to enable images to later be reclassified as “morefavorite” or “less favorite”.

The “filesize” metadata in row 668 and “format” metadata in row 670 ofFIG. 8 indicate the size and type of image file (e.g., JPEG, TIFF,etc.). The “group number” metadata in row 672 gives the number of thegroup of images (e.g. 1, 2, 3, etc.) that this particular image is partof. The group job information in the FAVGROUP.MRK file 416 is used todetermine the group number. The “group name” metadata in row 672 givesan optional name for the group, as will be discussed later withreference to block 156.

The “imgheight” and “imgwidth” metadata in rows 676-678 give the size ofthe image stored in the image file, and the “imagepath” metadata in row680 provides the pathname to the image file which was stored on harddrive 20 when the images were transferred as part of block 122 of FIG.3A. The “moddate” metadata in row 682 indicates the date/time that theimage last modified, or the date that the image was captured, if it hasnever been modified. The “imagename” metadata in row 684 indicates thename of the image file (e.g. 100_(—)1696 for image data object 652). The“protected” metadata in row 686 indicates whether or not this image filehas been protected by the user via the operating system.

The “thmheight” and “thmwidth” metadata in rows 688-690 give the size ofthe thumbnail image (e.g., 160×120 pixels) and the “thmnail” metadata inrow 692 is a data blob which holds a copy of the compressed thumbnailimage that was stored by the digital camera 300 in each Exif image file.Providing a copy of each thumbnail image in the general assets table 600of FIG. 8 allows all of the thumbnails to be quickly retrieved from thehard drive 20 for display on the display monitor 14 (see FIG. 1).

In block 128 of FIG. 3, the user selects a display mode, and theappropriate transferred images are displayed. The user can select adisplay of “all images”, a display of “all favorite” images, or adisplay of a “selected group” of images. If the user selects the“display all” option, in block 130 the CPU motherboard 12 in the homecomputer 10 builds a request to retrieve all of the thumbnail imagesfrom the general assets table 600 in FIG. 8. In block 132 all of theimage objects are retrieved, which includes the “favlevel” favoriteslevel metadata 666. In block 134 all of the images are displayed in away that organizes them into groups, with icons indicating the favoriteimages in the collection of images.

FIG. 9A depicts an example of a computer user interface screen fordisplaying all of the transferred images. A GUI screen 800A includes anarea 820 for displaying the thumbnail images provided using the“thmnail” metadata 692 of each object in the general assets table 600 inFIG. 8. By moving a selector 842 within a display selection area 840,the user can select a display of “All Images”, a display of “AllFavorites”, or a display of a “Group” of images selected using a groupnumber/name box 843”. In the example of FIG. 9A, the “All Images”display mode is selected.

The GUI screen 800A also includes a display format selection area 810,which provides three types of display formats. A “Thumbnails” displayicon 814 displays an array of thumbnails in the image display area 820,as shown in the example of FIG. 9. Alternatively, a “Single” displayicon 812 can be selected by the user in order to display a single imageat a time in the image display area 820, or a “Details” display icon 816can be selected by the user in order to display thumbnails and otherinformation (including the capture date/time metadata indicating whenthe picture was taken, group number/name, and the like) in the imagedisplay area 820. Since the “Thumbnails” display mode has been selectedthe example shown in FIG. 9A, a group of thumbnail images 822A-822K aredisplayed in the image display area 820. A slider 825 is used forscrolling through the collection of thumbnail images. Beneath eachthumbnail image 822A-822K is the image name, provided using the“imagename” metadata 684 in FIG. 8.

Adjacent the top left of each thumbnail image 822A-822K is a text boxindicating the group to which the image belongs (e.g., group 12 forimage 100_(—)1696). The group number is provided by the “group number”metadata 672 in FIG. 8. This number is incremented for each group ofimages identified in a FAVGROUP.MRK file 416. Thus, the group containingthe image named 100_(—)1696 was the 12^(th) group created by the digitalcamera 300 and transferred to the home computer 10.

Adjacent the top right of thumbnail images 822B, 822G, and 822J is anicon including an object indicating a favorite image, since theseparticular images have been identified as favorites by the user in block114 of FIG. 3 and therefore have a “favlevel” metadata 666 value of +7.In the example shown in FIG. 9A, the object in the icon which is used toidentify thumbnail images 822B, 822G, and 822J as favorite images is aheart. It would be understood to those skilled in the art that adifferent object, such as a smiley face, a checkmark, or a star, couldbe used to identify an image as a favorite image. As will be describedlater, a most favorite image can be indicated with an icon havingmultiple copies of the same object, for example, two hearts or twostars. Alternatively, the object could be larger for an extra favoriteimage, or could be bolded or represented in a different color.

The GUI screen 800A also includes a “Slide Show” icon 830 for initiatinga slide show of the images displayed in the image display window 820.One or more images can be labeled with one or more key words using a“Label” icon 832. The keywords can indicate the event or subject of thepicture, for example. Selected images can be rotated by selecting a“Rotate” icon 834 or edited (e.g., by cropping, removing red-eye,changing the brightness, etc.) by selecting an “Open/Edit” icon 836.Information contained in a selected Exif image file (such as thedate/time, camera settings and the like), as well as the keywords, canbe viewed by selecting a “Properties” icon 838.

The GUI screen 800A also includes sort options that are selected using asort items text box 844 and a pull-down arrow icon 846 to select adesired sort option from a list, including sort by date, caption, orkeyword. A reverse order checkbox 848 is used to reverse the display ofthe thumbnail images.

The GUI screen 800A also includes tabs 802-810 for selecting other GUIscreens. Tab 802 selects the “My Collection” (current) GUI screen, tab804 selects a “Print at Home” GUI screen, tab 805 selects the “OrderPrints Online” GUI screen, tab 806 selects the “Email” GUI screen, andtab 801 selects the “Album Pages” GUI screen.

In block 136 of FIG. 3B, the user optionally changes which images arefavorites. This is done by using a favorites level selection area 860shown in FIG. 9A. The user first selects one of the thumbnail images(e.g., thumbnail image 822B), and the favorites level selection area 860then displays the current favorites level. If the user has notpreviously modified the level, the images are either “Normal” or“Favorite”. Using the selector 862, the user can change the level of theselected image to be an “Extra Favorite”, a “Favorite”, a “Normal”image, or a “Dislike” image.

In block 138 of FIG. 3B, the favorites metadata is updated in thegeneral assets table 600 to be +10 if the image has been set to be an“Extra Favorite”, +7 if the image has been set to be a “Favorite”, 0 ifthe image has been set to normal”, and −7 if the image has been set tobe “Dislike”. The icon displayed next to each thumbnail image is alsoupdated to reflect the level selected by the user. For example, if an“Extra Favorite” level has been selected, a double heart icon isdisplayed, if a “Favorite” level has been selected, a single heart iconis displayed, if a “Normal” level has been selected, no icon isdisplayed, and if a “Dislike” icon has been selected, a crossed outheart icon is displayed.

If in block 128 the user selects the “Display Favorites” option, forexample, by selecting the “All Favorites” option using selection window840 in FIG. 9A, in block 140 the CPU motherboard 12 in the home computer10 builds a request to retrieve only those thumbnail images whichcorrespond to favorite and extra favorite images from the general assetstable 600 in FIG. 8. In block 142, all of the image objects classifiedas favorites are retrieved. In block 144, all of the favorite imagethumbnails are displayed, with icons indicating the favorite level.

FIG. 9B depicts an example of a computer user interface screen fordisplaying all of the favorite images. A GUI screen 800B displays inarea 820 the thumbnail images 822B, 822G and 822J that correspond tofavorite images.

In block 146 of FIG. 3B, the user optionally resets images that are nolonger considered favorites. This is accomplished using the favoriteslevel selection area 860. The user first selects one of the thumbnailimages (e.g., thumbnail image 822B), and the favorites level selectionarea 860 then displays the current favorites level. If the user has notpreviously modified the level, the images are either “Normal” or“Favorite”. Using the selector 862, the user can change the level of theselected image to be an “Extra Favorite”, a “Favorite”, a “Normal”image, or a “Dislike” image.

In block 148, the favorites metadata is updated in the general assetstable 600, and the icon displayed next to each thumbnail image is alsoupdated, as was described earlier in relation to block 138.

If in block 128 the user selects the “Display Selected Group” option,for example by selecting the “Group” option using selection window 840in FIG. 9B, in block 150 the CPU motherboard 12 in the home computer 10builds a request to retrieve only those thumbnail images whichcorrespond to the selected group (e.g., group number 11) from thegeneral assets table 600 in FIG. 8. In block 152, all of the imageobjects belonging to the selected group are retrieved, along with themetadata indicating the favorites level. In block 154, all of the imagethumbnails in the group are displayed, with icons indicating thefavorite level.

FIG. 9C depicts an example of a computer user interface screen fordisplaying all of the favorite images. A GUI screen 800C displays inarea 820 the thumbnail images 822E, 822F, 822G and 822H that belong tothe selected group.

In block 156 of FIG. 3B the user optionally sets or changes the name ofthe group. This is done using naming window 880, by typing in anappropriate name (e.g., “ANIMALS”) in the underline area. The user canalso change the favorites level of one or more images as was describedearlier in relation to block 136. In block 158, the favlevel metadata666 and group name metadata 674 are updated in the general assets table600, and the favorites level icon displayed next to each thumbnail imageis also updated, as was described earlier in relation to block 138.

In block 160, the user optionally selects local or network printing, byselecting the “Print at Home” icon 804 or the “Order Prints Online” icon805 shown in FIG. 9C. If network printing is selected, the displayedimages are uploaded to the photo service provider 40 over the channel 36(see FIG. 1). This uploading can use the methods described incommonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/691,364, filedOct. 18, 2000, entitled “Effective Transfer Of Images From A User To AService Provider” to Berarducci et. al., the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

In block 162, the displayed images are printed either as normal prints,or alternatively, as album pages, if the “Album Pages” icon 808 shown inFIG. 9C is selected. If album pages are selected, in block 162 eitherthe CPU motherboard 12 (for local printing) or the production controller52 (for on-line printing) automatically creates album pages from theselected images. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, theimages are automatically organized into album pages corresponding to thegrouping information. In addition, favorite images are used as emphasisimages, as described in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/559,478, filed Apr. 27, 2000 by Simon, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference. As described in the Simon et al.patent, the emphasis image is located in the center of the page and islarger than other images on the page. The emphasis image can also besurrounded by a border or other background designed to draw attention tothe emphasis image. The album pages can be produced using the methodsdescribed in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,061 to Manico et al.,the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.

Referring to FIG. 10, there is shown an example of an album page 890.Four images 894, 895, 896, and 897 are formatted and put on the albumpage 890 by the home computer 10, or by the fulfillment system 50 (seeFIG. 1). When the system automatically creates the album page 890, thefavorite images are featured. This is accomplished by positioning themost favorite image 894, corresponding to thumbnail image 822G in FIG.9C, in the center of the album page 890. This is also accomplished byformatting the favorite image 894 so that it is larger in size than theother images on the album page 890. This is further accomplished byproviding a background frame that draws attention to the favoriteimages. The most favorite image(s) are automatically selected from theset of displayed images based on the “favlevel” metadata 666. The albumpage 890 is automatically labeled with the title 892 that the userentered in the naming window 880 (e.g., “ANIMALS” shown in FIG. 9C).While not shown in FIG. 10, the album page 890 can also include a pagenumber, captions, a creative background, and holes for placing the albumpage 890 into an album binder.

FIGS. 11A and 11B, taken together, depict a flow diagram showing asecond embodiment of a method for grouping images, identifying favoriteimages, and organizing the images in accordance with the presentinvention. In the method of FIG. 11, the grouping and classificationdata is used to create “electronic job pages”, where each group ofimages corresponds to one “job”, such as an item offered for saleelectronically. By grouping the images on the digital camera 300 as theyare captured, the process of later creating the “electronic job pages”on a computer is greatly simplified, since the images are alreadyorganized into the appropriate job groups.

In block 1000 of FIG. 11A, the user installs and configures the softwareon the home computer 10, as was described earlier in relation to block100 of FIG. 3. The installation creates a local database structure onthe hard drive 20 of the home computer 10. This local database willlater be populated with data that groups and classifies the images whichare captured by the digital camera 300 and transferred to the homecomputer 10.

In some embodiments, the software on the home computer 10 is used tocustomize the digital camera 300 by storing firmware in the firmwarememory 328 that enables a special on-line sales mode, such as an “eBay”mode, which is used to simplify the process of producing electronic jobpages, where such pages may, for example, feature (e.g., depict anddescribe) items offered for sale electronically. The firmware can beadded as described in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/549,356, filed Apr. 14, 2000, entitled “Customizing A Digital Camera”to Prabhu et. al., the disclosure of which is herein incorporated byreference. Alternatively, the digital camera 300 can be sold with the“eBay” mode firmware already installed.

In block 1001, the user of the digital camera 300 selects the eBay modeon the digital camera 300. This is preferably done by selecting, from amenu displayed on the color image display 332 (see FIG. 2), the eBaymode using the joystick controller 360 (see FIG. 4). When this mode isselected, the eBay mode firmware stored in firmware memory 328 enablesthe digital camera 300 to operate most effectively when capturing andorganizing images for electronic job pages, by modifying the operationswhich are performed when the “favorite” button 364 or the “group” button362 are pressed, as will be described later.

In addition, the firmware can set the camera resolution level to asmaller image size (e.g., the 0.4 MP “web quality” setting), thusproducing a smaller image file which is more appropriate for images thatare intended to be uploaded and displayed on the Internet. Furthermore,in some embodiments, the firmware can provide, in the on-line salesmode, a lower contrast tone reproduction curve than is used in thenormal mode. The lower contrast tone reproduction curve can modify thenormal tone reproduction of the digital camera 300 in order to reducethe contrast of the images, and in order to increase the brightness ofshadow areas of the image, to allow the details of the object beingphotographed to be more easily discerned.

In block 1002, a group of digital images, which can be one or moreimages, is captured using the digital camera 300 and stored as digitalimage files on the removable memory card 330, as was described earlierwith reference to FIG. 2. The images are stored using the directorystructure shown in FIG. 5. For example, when the user depresses theshutter button 309 (see FIG. 4) a first digital image is captured andstored as an image file, such as image file 432 in FIG. 5. This firstimage file is the first image which can be used in a new electronic jobpage. Therefore, the image processor 320 in the digital camera 300creates an initial FAVGROUP.MRK file (416 in FIG. 5) containing a singlegroup job that indicates that this first image file 432, named100_(—)1686.JPG, is the first image of a new group of images. This canbe done by writing lines 1 through 8 of the FAVGROUP.MRK control fileshown in FIG. 12. The format of the FAVGROUP.MRK file in FIG. 12 issimilar to the format of FIG. 6, except that “EBY PID” parameter (lines6, 14, 22 in FIG. 12) is used to indicate that the groups of imagescorrespond to different electronic job pages.

The user continues to capture additional images for the first eBayelectronic job page, corresponding to image files 434 through 436 inFIG. 5. At any time, the user can press the “favorite” button 364 (FIG.4) to indicate that the picture that has just been captured, is a“favorite” image that should be featured on the electronic job page. Forexample, the user can select image file 434 (see FIG. 5) as a favoriteimage, and the processor 320 in the digital camera 300 in responsewrites lines 9-12 in FIG. 12. In the eBay mode, there is only onefavorite per electronic job page, so if the user presses the favoritebutton again after capturing a subsequent image, this subsequent imagebecomes the favorite image, and the first image is automaticallydeselected as a favorite. This is done by modifying the image sourceindicated by the “IMG SRC” parameter in line 12 of FIG. 12 to providethe pathname to the newly selected favorite image, instead of theoriginal favorite image.

In block 1004, the user decides whether or not to capture another groupof images. This next group would be used to create a second eBayelectronic job page, corresponding to a second item offered for sale. Ifyes to block 1004, in block 1006 the user presses the “group” button 362on the digital camera 300 (see FIG. 4) to indicate that next images tobe captured should be used to produce a second electronic job page.Providing a single button, or a similar easy to operate user control,enables the camera user to quickly and easily organize images intodifferent groups corresponding to different items offered for sale,while taking pictures with the digital camera 300. These groups ofimages can later be automatically organized in electronic job pagesafter they are transferred to the home computer 10.

In block 1008, the image processor 320 in the digital camera 300 updatesthe initial FAVGROUP.MRK control file (416 in FIG. 5) to identify theimages corresponding to a second electronic job page. This is done afterthe user presses the shutter button 309 (see FIG. 4) to capture andstore the next digital image (e.g., image file 438 in FIG. 5), byappending another JOB including the EBY_PID parameter, indicating thatthis image is the first image of a second electronic job page. In thisexample, this is done by writing lines 13 through 16 of the FAVGROUP.MRKfile shown in FIG. 12. In block 1010, the user continues to captureadditional images in the second group, corresponding to image files 440through 444 in FIG. 6, and optionally designates one of the images as afavorite image.

Returning to block 1004, the user again decides whether to captureanother group of images. If yes to block 1004, block 1006 through 1010are repeated, for example, to capture and store image files 446 through452 in FIG. 5 and to create the third electronic job page image groupindicated by lines 21 through 24 of the FAVGROUP.MRK file shown in FIG.12.

In an alternative embodiment, the digital camera 300 includes amicrophone (not shown), and the user records a single audio annotationfor the group of images as the user presses and holds the “group” button362. This audio annotation is stored as a separate audio file, such as awave file, on the removable memory card 330. The audio annotation coulddescribe the subject of the group of photos, or other information commonto the group of photos. The FAVGROUP.MRK control file could include thename of this separate audio file created for each group.

If in block 1004 the user decides not to capture additional groups ofimages (no to block 1004), in block 1012 the user optionally reviewscaptured images on the color image display 332 of the digital camera300. The review mode is initiated when the user presses the reviewbutton 368 (see FIG. 4). The last captured image file (e.g., file 452 inFIG. 5) is displayed. The user can navigate to review other image files(e.g., files 432 through 450) using the joystick controller 360.

In block 1014, an electronic job page (e.g. eBay group) identifier isdisplayed near the displayed image. If the current image is the favoriteimage for that particular eBay group, a favorite icon is also displayed.

In block 1016, the user can modify the “favorite” images by selecting adifferent image as the “favorite” for that eBay group. The useraccomplishes this by pressing the “favorite” button 364 (see FIG. 4)while the new favorite image is displayed. In block 1018, after the userpresses the “favorite” button 364, the image processor 320 in thedigital camera 300 updates the FAVGROUP.MRK file shown in FIG. 12 toidentify the newly selected favorite images (rather than the originalfavorite images) in lines 12, 20, and/or 28.

In block 1020, the user connects the digital camera 300 to the dock 350,which is connected to the home computer 10 via an interface such as USB,and presses the “transfer” button (not shown) to initiate the imagetransfer. Alternatively, the user can remove the removable memory card330 from the digital camera 300 and place the removable memory card 330in the card reader 24 (see FIG. 1).

In block 1022, the home computer 10 reads the FAVGROUP.MRK file 416 andtransfers the image files 432-452 (see FIG. 5) to the hard drive 20 ofthe home computer 10. The image files are stored in a default directoryfor electronic job pages, such as in a “my eBay sales” directory, or ina directory selected by the user when the software was installed inblock 100 (FIG. 3A). In block 1024, an object is created for eachtransferred image, and the favorite and electronic job page propertiesof each object are set to correspond to the information read from thecontrol file in block 122. In block 1026 of FIG. 11B, the object createdfor each transferred image is committed to the local database stored onthe hard drive 20 of the home computer 10. The information stored ingeneral assets table 600 of the local database on hard drive 20 issimilar to that described with reference to FIG. 8, except that thegroup name is automatically populated with a string identifying this asa group of images for an electronic job page, such as the text “eBaySale”.

In block 1028, the CPU motherboard 12 in the home computer 10 detectsthat at least one “eBay” group exists in the database, for example, bydetecting that the database has just been populated with at least onegroup name string (line 674 in FIG. 8) with a text string of “eBaySale”. In response, in block 1030, the eBay order entry application islaunched. In some embodiments, this can be automatically when thetransfer is completed.

In block 1032, a generic entry form is created for the first electronicjob page. This generic form includes general seller informationincluding, for example, the seller's address, acceptable paymentoptions, and shipping terms, that will be used for numerous electronicjob pages associated with a particular seller. This information isentered by the user using the keyboard 16 (see FIG. 1), who is typicallythe seller. In an alternative embodiment, this information is enteredwhen the user installs the software in block 1000 (FIG. 11A). It is anadvantage of the present invention that the general seller informationneed be entered only one time, instead of having to enter theinformation separately for each electronic job page.

In block 1034, all objects associated with the first eBay group areautomatically populated into the eBay form, and the images are scaledfor web viewing if necessary. If the digital camera 300 wasautomatically set to “web quality” in block 1001, additional image sizescaling is not necessary. FIG. 13A depicts an example of such a form,which provides an initial electronic job page.

In block 1036, if there is a “favorite” image, it is featured on aninitial eBay form 1100A. In the example of FIG. 13A, the initial eBayform 1100A includes an image display area 1110 which is populated withfour images that correspond to one of the eBay groups (e.g., the 3^(rd)eBay group including image files 446-452 in FIG. 5). The image that wasidentified as the “favorite” for that eBay group (e.g., image file 450)is displayed as a larger image 1112. The others are displayed as smallerimages 1121-1123. The “favorite” image is also displayed as an indeximage 1114 near the top of the initial eBay form 1100A.

The initial eBay form 1100A also includes a partially completedinformation window 1140A, which displays the information entered by theuser during block 1032 of FIG. 11B. Examples of this information includethe seller's email address, location, and country, and the acceptablepayment methods and shipping terms. Some of the information is not yetfilled out however, such as the minimum bid, or the starting or endingdate of the sale. The initial eBay form 1100A also includes a blank saleitem name area 1142A and a blank description area 1130.

In block 1038, the user is prompted to fill in the remaining informationon the eBay form 1100A. The result is the final eBay form 1100B depictedin FIG. 13B. The remaining information is specific to the item offeredfor sale, and includes the sale item name 1142B, the description 1130 ofthe item, and the minimum bid and starting/ending date entered in window1140B.

In block 1039, the user optionally changes the favorite image, forexample, by dragging and dropping one of the small images 1121, 1122, or1123 into the area which displays the larger favorite image 1112. Inresponse, the selected smaller image now becomes the favorite image, andis displayed as the larger image 1112 (and as index image 1114) whilethe initial favorite image is displayed as a smaller image.

In block 1040, the final eBay form 1100B is stored on the hard drive 20of the home computer 10, and the database (e.g., the general assetstable 600) is updated to indicate that an electronic job page has beencreated using the first eBay group.

In block 1042, the database is checked to determine if there is anothereBay group that has not yet been entered into an eBay form. If yes toblock 1042, in block 1044 a copy of the generic entry form is createdfor the next eBay group, and blocks 1034 through 1042 are repeated.

If another eBay group does not exist (no to block 1042), in block 1046all of the final eBay forms are sent to eBay and registered as newauctions. This can be accomplished by the host computer 10 communicatingwith the electronic auction provider 80 (e.g., eBay) via the InternetService Provider 30 and the channel 36, as shown in FIG. 1. Thiscommunication includes transferring the images used in each form fromthe hard drive 20 to the electronic auction provider 80. In response,the electronic auction provider 80 returns an auction identifier foreach entry form. The auction identifier can be a serial number assignedto the each electronic job form by the electronic auction provider 80.

In block 1048, the auction identifiers are entered into the localdatabase. In one embodiment, the auction identifiers are appended toeach image used in one of the electronic job pages uploaded in block1046.

In block 1050, the home computer 10 receives from the electronic auctionprovider 80 a notification indicating that one or more of the items hasbeen sold.

In block 1052, the image files and image database objects correspondingto the items that have been sold are automatically deleted from the harddrive 20 of the home computer 10.

FIGS. 14A and 14B, taken together, depict a flow diagram showing a thirdembodiment of a method for grouping images, identifying favorite images,and organizing the images in accordance with the present invention. Inthis embodiment, the digital camera 300 includes a modem (not shown)which transmits some or all of the captured images to a serviceprovider, and the grouping and classification information is used tosimplify the process of organizing the images stored by the serviceprovider into albums which can be easily selected by the user or byothers authorized to view the uploaded images.

In block 101, the user installs and configures their digital camera 300and service account so that the digital camera 300 can communicate withthe service provider in way that enables the captured images to bestored in the proper service account. This can include providing aconfiguration file as described in commonly-assigned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/004,046, filed Jan. 7, 1998, entitled “NetworkConfiguration File For Automatically Transmitting Images From AnElectronic Still Camera” to Ward et. al., the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference. It can also include establishing aservice user account which specifies user selected photo productoptions, such as customized album pages, as well as delivery and billinginformation, as described in commonly-assigned U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/576,288, filed May 23, 2000, entitled “Method For ProvidingCustomized Photo Products Over A Network” to Parulski, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference. In a preferred embodiment,the digital camera 300 stores the service account identifier in thefirmware memory 328 of the digital camera 300 (see FIG. 2).

Blocks 102 through 119 of FIG. 14A are the same as the correspondingblocks in FIG. 3A.

In block 121 of FIG. 14A, the captured images (e.g., image files 432-452in FIG. 5) and the control files (e.g., files 412-426) are transferredfrom the digital camera 300 to the service provider via the modem (notshown). The modem is preferably a wireless modem, such as a cellularphone modem or an 802.11 type modem. Alternatively, the modem can be awired modem which connects to a telephone jack.

In block 123, the photo service provider 40 (see FIG. 1) stores theimage files and control files in the service provider database 44.

In block 125, the photo service provider 40 creates an object for eachuploaded image in a database, which can be, for example, the generalassets table 600 described earlier with reference to FIG. 8. In thiscase, there is a general assets table 600 for each user account. Thefavorite and group properties in the database are set using theinformation in the FAVGROUP.MRK file 416 (see FIG. 5) as describedearlier.

In block 126 of FIG. 14B, the object is committed to the database asdescribed earlier with reference to block 126 of FIG. 3B.

In block 170, the images specified in the AUTPRINT.MRK print ordercontrol file 412 are printed and delivered to the address(es) providedin step 101 of FIG. 14A.

In block 172, the images specified in the AUTXFER.MRK email ordercontrol file 414 are emailed to the email addresses specified in thefile.

In block 174, the user (or another person authorized by the user to viewone or more of their on-line image albums) logs into their account withthe service provider.

In block 178, the photo service provider 40 retrieves the group andfavorites information from the service provider database (e.g., from theuser's general assets table 600).

In block 180, the photo service provider determines the most favoriteimage for each group. If there is no favorite image specified for agroup, the first (or alternatively, the last) image of the group isused. If the group includes more than one favorite image, the first (oralternatively, the last) favorite image is used.

In block 182, the photo service provider 40 provides, via the Internetserver 42, images and information to the home computer 10 which isdisplayed on the display monitor 14 as a computer user interface screen(GUI screen). FIG. 15 is an illustrative example of a GUI screen 1200.The GUI screen 1200 includes a display window 1210 which displays threeimages 1212, 1214, and 1216 representing three different electronicalbums. The images 1212, 1214, 1216 are provided using the thumbnailimage data 616 from the user's general assets table 600 (see FIG. 8).The particular images displayed correspond to the images identified asfavorite images for each group in block 114 of FIG. 14A.

The GUI screen 1200 also includes a number of icons 1230-1242 that canbe selected by the user. These icons include the “View all Albums” icon1230, which is automatically selected when the user logs on in block176, so that the GUI screen 1200 is automatically displayed. These iconsalso include an “Open album” icon 1232 that can be used to display theimages within one of the albums (e.g., the images within the albumcorresponding to image 1212, which is highlighted as being currentlyselected by the user). The icons also include a “Slide show” icon 1234which can be used to automatically display in sequence all of the imagesin the selected album as a slide show, a “Share Photos” icon 1236 thatcan be used to enable another GUI screen (not shown) to allow images ina selected album to be shared with one or more designees of the user, a“Buy Prints” icon 1238 that can be used to enable another GUI screen(not shown) to allow prints of selected images to be purchased, an “AddPhotos” icon 1240 that can be used to enable another GUI screen (notshown) to allow the user to upload additional images, and a “Help” icon1242 that can be used to enable another GUI screen (not shown) to assistthe user in using the services provided by the photo service provider40.

In block 184 of FIG. 14B, the user selects an album to be displayed byselecting the “favorite” image that serves to identify one of the albums(e.g., image 1212 in FIG. 15) and then selecting the “Open album” icon1232, or alternatively, by “double-clicking” on the image (e.g.,double-clicking on image 1212).

In block 186, the thumbnails of all of the images are displayed, withthe favorite(s) first, since there are likely to be of most interest tothe user. FIG. 16 is an illustrative example of a GUI screen 1300. TheGUI screen 1300 includes a display window 1310, which displays the fourimages 1212, 1222, 1224, and 1226 (corresponding to image files 446-452in FIG. 5) which are included in the album. The images 1212, 1222, 1224,and 1226 are provided using the thumbnail image data 616 from the user'sgeneral assets table 600 (see FIG. 8). A favorites icon 1213 isdisplayed near image 1212, since this image is currently a favoriteimage. The user can modify the favorite selection by selecting the“Modify Favorites” icon 1252. This brings up another GUI screen (notshown) enabling the user to modify the favorite images, similar to aswas described earlier with reference to blocks 136-138 of FIG. 3. Theuser can also name the album by typing in a name in an “Album Name” area1250.

In block 188, the user can select images from the album for sharingand/or printing. In block 190, the selected images are printed and/orshared.

Alternatively, it would be understood to those skilled in the art thatthe images captured using the digital camera 300 can be transferred tothe home computer 10 and stored on the hard drive 20, and dataidentifying the first and second groups of digital images and theidentified favorite images can be read from the control file 416 (seeFIG. 5) and added to the local database described earlier with referenceto FIG. 8. Each group of digital images is then organized as anelectronic album, using the data in the local database, and is displayedon the display monitor 14. A user then selects an electronic album byselecting the associated favorite image in a manner similar to thatdescribed earlier with reference to FIG. 15. The group of digital imagesassociated with each electronic album can be viewed (for example, as aslide show or as was described with reference to FIG. 16), or can beshared or printed as was previously described. Prints can be madelocally using printer 26 (FIG. 1), or the digital images to be printedcan be transferred via the channel 36 to the photo service provider 40which can provide the digital images to the fulfillment system 50 forprinting using the color printer 54.

A computer program product in accordance with the present invention caninclude one or more storage medium, for example; magnetic storage mediasuch as magnetic disk (such as a floppy disk) or magnetic tape; opticalstorage media such as optical disk, optical tape, or machine readablebar code; solid-state electronic storage devices such as random accessmemory (RAM), or read-only memory (ROM); or any other physical device ormedia employed to store a computer program having instructions forpracticing a method according to the present invention.

The invention has been described in detail with particular reference tocertain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood thatvariations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scopeof the invention. For example, instead of allowing only two “favorite”levels (e.g., normal and favorite) to be selected, the user interface ofthe digital camera 300 could enable more levels (e.g., extra favorite,non-favorite) to be selected. In addition, in some embodiments onlycertain images (such as favorites) could be uploaded to the photoservice provider 40 via the modem, while all of the images (includingnormal and non-favorite images) could be transferred to the hard drive20 of the home computer 10.

PARTS LIST

-   10 home computer-   12 CPU motherboard-   14 monitor-   16 keyboard-   18 pointing device-   20 hard drive-   22 modem-   24 card reader-   26 printer-   30 Internet service provider-   32 modems-   34 computers/routers-   36 channel-   40 photo service provider-   42 Internet server-   44 service provider database-   46 billing system-   48 bill issuing-   52 production controller-   54 color printer-   66 photo product

PARTS LIST

-   70 shipping system-   72 shipping label printer-   74 shipping label-   76 disc writer-   300 digital camera-   302 flash-   303 user controls-   304 control processor and timing generator circuit-   305 optical viewfinder-   306 clock drivers-   309 shutter button-   310 zoom and focus motors-   311 zoom lens control rocker switch-   312 zoom lens-   314 image sensor-   316 ASP & A/D converter circuit-   318 DRAM buffer memory-   320 image processor-   322 host interface-   326 memory card interface-   326 RAM memory-   328 firmware memory-   330 removable memory card-   332 color LCD image display-   342 interface cable-   350 dock-   360 joystick-   362 group button-   364 favorite button-   366 menu button-   368 review button-   370 mode dial-   390 video driver-   392 TV monitor-   400 root directory-   410 MISC directory-   412 control file-   414 control file-   416 control file-   420 DCIM directory-   430 subdirectory-   432-452 image files-   500A GUI screen-   500B GUI screen-   502A display area-   502B display area-   504A display window-   504B display window-   506B “favorite” indicator-   600 general assets table-   610 table of data fields-   612 metadata field-   614 data type-   616 expose value-   632-652 image data object-   660-692 metadata-   800A GUI screen-   800B GUI screen-   800C GUI screen-   802 “My Collection” tab-   804 “Print at Home” tab-   805 “Order Prints Online” tab-   806 “Email” tab-   808 “Album Pages” tab-   810 display format selection area-   812 “Single” display icon-   814 “Thumbnails” display icon-   816 “Details” display icon-   820 image display area-   822A-822K thumbnail images-   825 slider-   830 “Slide Show” icon-   832 “Label” icon-   834 “Rotate” icon-   836 “Open/Edit” icon-   838 “Properties” icon-   840 display selection area-   842 selector-   843 group number/name box-   844 sort items text box-   846 pull-down arrow icon-   848 reserve order checkbox-   852 “To Do List” icon-   860 favorites level selection area-   862 selector-   890 album page-   892 album page name-   894 most favorite image-   895 favorite image-   896 favorite image-   897 favorite image-   1100A initial eBay form-   1100B final eBay form-   1110 image display area-   1112 favorite eBay image-   1114 index image-   1121 eBay image-   1122 eBay image-   1123 eBay image-   1130 description area-   1140A information window-   1140B information window-   1142A blank sale item name area-   1142B sale item name-   1200 GUI screen-   1210 display window-   1212 electronic album image-   1213 favorites icon-   1214 electronic album image-   1216 electronic album image-   1230 “View all Albums” icon-   1232 “Open album” icon-   1234 “Slide show” icon-   1236 “Share Photos” icon-   1238 “Buy Prints” icon-   1240 “Add Photos” icon-   1242 “Help” icon-   1250 “Album Name” area-   1252 “Modify Favorites” icon-   1300 GUI screen-   1310 display area

1. A digital camera, comprising: a) an image sensor for capturing aplurality of images; b) a processor for processing the plurality ofimages and producing a corresponding plurality of digital image files;c) a memory for storing the plurality of digital image files; d) a modecontrol for selecting between a normal mode and an on-line sales modeprior to capture of at least a given one of the images, wherein, thegiven image when subsequently captured is automatically associated withinformation identifying the selected mode, wherein, when the on-linesales mode has been selected, the processor provides a smaller imagefile than when the normal mode has been selected; and e) an additionalcontrol for selecting within a given group of the digital images aparticular one of the digital images in the group as a favorite image torepresent the group, wherein in the on-line sales mode the designatedfavorite image and one or more remaining images in the group areautomatically configured for inclusion in a corresponding electronicpage, with the designated favorite image being automatically configuredfor inclusion into the electronic job page as a primary image and theone or more remaining images of the group being automatically configuredfor inclusion into the electronic job page as respective secondaryimages.
 2. The digital camera of claim 1 wherein the smaller image fileis used to produce an electronic job page.
 3. The digital camera ofclaim 1 wherein the processor further provides a lower contrast tonereproduction curve than when the normal mode has been selected.
 4. Thedigital camera of claim 3 wherein the smaller image file is used toproduce an electronic job page.
 5. The digital camera of claim 1 furtherincluding a user interface having a user control for grouping theplurality of stored digital image files into a plurality of imagegroups.
 6. The digital camera of claim 5 wherein at least one of theimage groups is used to produce an electronic job page.
 7. The digitalcamera of claim 5 wherein the user interface further includes a usercontrol for identifying a favorite image from each of the plurality ofimage groups.
 8. The digital camera of claim 7 wherein the memoryfurther stores a control file identifying the plurality of favoriteimages and the corresponding plurality of image groups.
 9. The digitalcamera of claim 8 wherein the plurality of digital image files arestored as JPEG files using the DCF directory structure.
 10. A digitalimaging system for producing electronic job pages, comprising: a) adigital camera comprising: i)an image sensor for capturing a pluralityof images; ii)a processor for processing the plurality of images andproducing a corresponding plurality of digital image files; iii) acamera memory for storing the plurality of digital image files; iv) amode control for selecting between a normal mode and an on-line salesmode, wherein the camera memory further stores data indicating whetherthe plurality of digital images were captured in the normal mode or inthe on-line sales mode; and v) an additional control for selectingwithin a given group of the digital images a particular one of thedigital images in the group as a favorite image to represent that group,wherein in the on-line sales mode the designated favorite image and oneor more remaining images in the group are automatically configured forinclusion in a corresponding electronic job page, with the designatedfavorite image being automatically configured for inclusion into theelectronic job page as a primary image and the one or more remainingimages of the group being automatically configured for inclusion intothe electronic job page as respective secondary images; and b) acomputer comprising: i) a computer memory for storing digital imagesfiles transferred from the camera; and ii) means for producingelectronic job pages using the transferred digital image files only whenthe data stored in the camera memory indicates that the transferreddigital image files were captured in the on-line sales mode.
 11. Thedigital imaging system of claim 10 wherein, when the on-line sales modehas been selected, the processor provides a smaller image file than whenthe normal mode has been selected.
 12. The digital imaging system ofclaim 11 wherein the processor further provides a lower contrast tonereproduction curve than when the normal mode has been selected.
 13. Thedigital imaging system of claim 10 further including a user interfacehaving a user control for grouping the plurality of stored digital imagefiles into a plurality of image groups.
 14. The digital imaging systemof claim 13 wherein the user interface further includes a user controlfor identifying a favorite image from each of the plurality of imagegroups.
 15. The digital imaging system of claim 14 wherein the memoryfurther stores a control file identifying the plurality of favoriteimages and the corresponding plurality of image groups.
 16. The digitalimaging system of claim 15 wherein the plurality of digital image filesare stored as JPEG files using the DCF directory structure.
 17. Adigital camera comprising: a) an image sensor for capturing a pluralityof images; b) a processor for processing the plurality of images andproducing a corresponding plurality of digital image files; c) a memoryfor storing the plurality of digital image files; d) a mode control forselecting between a normal mode and an on-line sales mode, wherein thecamera memory further stores data indicating whether the plurality ofdigital images were captured in the normal mode or in the on-line salesmode, wherein, when the on-line sales mode has been selected, theprocessor provides a smaller image file than when the normal mode hasbeen selected; and e) an additional control for selecting within a givengroup of the digital images a particular one of the digital images inthe group as a favorite image to represent that group, wherein in theon-line sales mode the designated favorite image and one or moreremaining image sin the group are automatically configured for inclusionin a corresponding electronic job page, with the designated favoriteimage being automatically configured for inclusion into the electronicjob page as a primary image and the one or more remaining images of thegroup being automatically configured for inclusion into the electronicjob page as respective secondary images.
 18. The digital camera of claim17 wherein the smaller image file is used to produce an electronic jobpage.
 19. The digital camera of claim 17 wherein the processor furtherprovides a lower contrast tone reproduction curve than when the normalmode has been selected.
 20. The digital camera of claim 19 wherein thesmaller image file is used to produce an electronic job page.
 21. Thedigital camera of claim 17 further including a user interface having auser control for grouping the plurality of stored digital image filesinto a plurality of image groups.
 22. The digital camera of claim 21wherein at least one of the image groups is used to produce anelectronic job page.
 23. The digital camera of claim 21 wherein the userinterface further includes a user control for identifying a favoriteimage from each of the plurality of image groups.
 24. The digital cameraof claim 23 wherein the memory further stores a control file identifyingthe plurality of favorite images and the corresponding plurality ofimage groups.
 25. The digital camera of claim 24 wherein the pluralityof digital image files are stored as JPEG files using the DCF directorystructure.